Southern Company (The) $SO Shares Bought by Allstate Corp

Key Points

• Allstate Corp increased its holdings in Southern Company (NYSE: SO) by 25.1%, acquiring an additional 8,178 shares, which brings its total to 40,792 shares worth approximately $3.75 million.
• Southern Company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing estimates of $0.99, with a revenue of $6.97 billion, which was above expectations of $6.70 billion.
• Southern Company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.1%, payable on September 8th to shareholders of record as of August 18th.

Allstate Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 25.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,792 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 8,178 shares during the period. Allstate Corp's holdings in Southern were worth $3,751,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investors Research Corp boosted its position in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $94.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $94.5280 on Friday. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $96.44. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $92.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.30, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

Southern Company Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.

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